Water outages, low pressure reported for an hour across New Orleans

Reports of no water or extremely low water pressure were reported across the city Wednesday night, but water pressure returned to normal within the hour and officials said the water is safe.

Problems at the Carrollton pumping station were the cause of the drop, said city spokesman Ryan Berni. Berni said he couldn't confirm what the issue was Wednesday evening, but that pressure was restored and the condition of the water was unaffected.

Residents in the French Quarter, Uptown, Mid-City, Bywater, Bayou St. John area and Gentilly reported there was little or no water coming through the pipes around 8:45 p.m. but said water pressure had returned to normal soon after.

Restaurants like Juan's Flying Burrito in Mid-City closed when they noticed the low water pressure, only to open half an hour later without serving anything with water, said manager Lavallon Hereford.

That was the second time in two months the city experienced low water pressure. In November, the city ordered a boil-water advisory when the water pressure plummeted across the east bank of New Orleans. The advisory didn't come from the city until four hours after the Sewerage and Water Board noticed the pressure had dropped.

The city lifted the advisory two days later after tests on water samples came back clean.